UN human rights team in Bangladesh to hold talks with transitional setup

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - A team from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Thursday landed in Bangladesh to hold a preliminary discussion with the transitional government and other stakeholders on human rights.

The team will visit the South Asian country from Aug. 22 to 29, said the UN Dhaka office in a statement.

“The purpose of this visit is to understand their (Bangladesh) priorities for assistance in promoting human rights,” it said.

“It is important to note that this visit is not an investigation, but rather it will focus on discussing the process for investigating human rights violations in light of the recent violence and unrest,” the UN office added.

Another team will come to investigate the killings during the student-led uprising since July 16 which forced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign and flee to neighboring India on Aug. 5.

“Once the details are finalized, a separate fact-finding team will be dispatched in the coming weeks to conduct the investigation,” the UN visiting team assured.

The team also met with Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen in Dhaka.

Rory Mungoven, the team leader and chief of the Asia-Pacific Region OHCHR, said after meeting with Momen that the visit is an exploratory visit to discuss with the transitional government, and other stakeholders to explore some areas where the OHCHR could help including the area of fact-finding investigation.

This ongoing visit is in response to a request from the Yunus-led transitional government.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, 84, took office on Aug. 8 to lead a transitional administration after Hasina fled to India after coming under pressure from weeks of anti-government protests.

The student-led protests resulted in nearly 650 deaths, according to a UN report.​​​​​​​